Before the invention of the book, information was stored and past down through word of mouth, often referred to as the process of “story telling” from one generation to the next. However, with the invention of the printing press and paper, the paper bound book became and remains a common tool used to distribute literature for many centuries.
Although the technology in printing has changed, it is only recently that the book has found a competition in the delivery of literary works. Over the past decade, e-books have started to find appeal with many users by delivering digital versions of literary works for viewing by portable electronic devices.
In many instances, e-books operate by delivering printed materials in digital form to a reader. However, despite the advances in computing technology, these readers merely operate as a simple interface for displaying the digital version of the literary content. This has meant that apart from digitalizing literary content, little has changed from the methods of delivering literary content since the invention of the book.